Card Using Bottled Happiness Stamp Set and Soft Pastels!

Hi there, this is Sarah and I want to show you how to use our Stampin' Up! soft pastel assortment! Here is a card made with the stamp set called "Bottled Happiness" with the Vintage Bottle Shaker Domes and the Vintage Bottle Punch. This card was created on regular cardstock (Basic White).

Since it is a shaker card, here it is in motion:

Here is how I did this card:

Here is the original photo. As you can see, I was playing with the punch and the bottle domes before I created the background. That was not the best idea, because then I had to come up with a background later! However, that is how a lot of painters do it. I found a great tip for choosing a background by putting the image in Photoshop (or other image editor) from this guy:

And Robert Burridge - BobBlast on YouTube

also has some great videos about using neutrals in your backgrounds. These are about painting but it is the same concept.

1. First, I drew myself a basic colour wheel to refer to.

Red, yellow, and blue are always the main "unchangeable" foundation colours. By mixing two of the togehter you get the second colours (secondary) of 

Blue + yellow = green

blue + red = purple

yellow + red = orange

Since there are only 8 colours in the Soft Pastels Assortment, you will either need to create your own colours by mixing them, or add other types of media (pastels, markers, pencil crayons, etc.)

2. I used some of the colours I saw when I put the image in Photoshop Elements and applied them with the pastels, in layers, blending with my finger and with a soft cloth for each layer. You could also use Blending Brushes or Stamping sponges/daubers. 

Notice that the cloth seems to make a lighter colour than my finger does;

3. I added a bunch more colour, using some basic colours in each area of the image but also putting some all over. This is because 1) it adds more texture and interest and 2) there was a blue mark on the white background I could not get rid of!

4) I decided that the sentiment in the circle was too light and drab, and it was getting lost in the overall image. I wanted to add a small heart embellishment in a red that matched the pastel but I didn't have any. So I improvised by taking a Stampin' Blends alcohol marker and coloured an old embellisment:

The alcohol-based markers dry and will not wipe off. However, they do wipe off while the ink is still wet! I decided that the colour still wasn't right and a heart shape was not as great as I had hoped. So I switched to some retired round ones that are similar to the new Glossy Dots Assortment. The red was a better match and the round dots mimic the round sentiment better:

There is a design rule that says that our eyes prefer odd numbers of things, so I added a third gem:

Here is a good way to hold a pastel and use it horizontally (btw, pastels are meant to be broken!):

Mom had taken her Stampin' Up! Simply Scored tool and made three nice lines in the paper when it was white to give it some oomph:

Do you have trouble figuring out the lights and shadows of an image? In this card, the stamped bottles have the light coming from the upper right

5. To soften some of the darker colours, I used a tissue to softly blot the pastel:

I didn't wnat to remove a lot of colour so I just barely touched the paper with the tissue.

6. When I thought it was almost done, I sprayed it with workable fixative, so that the pastel would not smudge or come off the next time the card is touched by someone.

I let it draw overnight, even though the can says it is dry in about 5 minutes. 

7. The next day, I still wasn't happy with the finished card:

I added some Stampin' Blends in Light Smoky Slate and drew the table with a ruler, and then grey and black old retired Watercolor Pencils (there are new ones available that will work). The background colours seemed too bright to me, and I found that the bottles and sentiment was getting lost. So I added the grey to "neutralize" the bright colours, and also added some black pencil to the scallopped edge of the sentiment to help it "pop."

Here it is, finished:

Red arrows and sunshine courtesy Kindpng.com

Product List:

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [159276] $14.00	Soft Pastels Assortment [154585] $12.25	Linen Thread [104199] $7.00
Simply Scored [122334] $41.00	Watercolor Pencils [141709] $22.00	Layering Circles Dies [151770] $48.00
Vintage Bottle Shaker Domes [158788] $11.00	Bottled Happiness Bundle (English) [158690] $52.00	Tahitian Tide Classic Stampin' Pad [159210] $11.00
Orchid Oasis Classic Stampin' Pad [159214] $11.00	Parakeet Party Classic Stampin' Pad [159208] $11.00	Smoky Slate Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154904] $12.25
Effervescent Elements [158789] $10.25	Multipurpose Liquid Glue [110755] $5.50	Glossy Dots Assortment [158827] $11.00

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